Illness and death of animals is frustrating, no doubt. It has been said, “If you’re going to have livestock, you’re going to have deadstock.” While it may be a cliché, it is an unfortunate reality.

Several years ago, Tony Louters was on a hunt. The Merced, California, dairyman wanted more information on his milking cows in order to improve reproductive protocols and, more importantly, health. The dairy was running fine, but he wasn’t satisfied with good enough.

We have all become more educated on coronavirus in general over the past few years whether we wanted to be or not. However, dairy producers have been dealing with health issues from coronavirus in their herds for quite some time.

Going mobile provides rapid cowside entry and quick access to your herd’s data. It allows you to make decisions instantly – instead of later when entering the data into your herd management software.

Did you know? … there are more than 30 different stressors that can affect the health and performance of dairy cows. Knowing how these stressors work and how they affect your cows can help you reduce their negative impacts on your herd. Jefo Nutrition has developed an initiative to help producers better understand and manage everyday stressors.

Salmonella is a highly infectious and contagious, gram-negative bacterium that can hide from a cow’s immune system by living inside other cells.

Overwhelmed by data? You’re not alone. Whether it’s data from your herd management software, milk testing, parlor or milking robot, or other technologies, we’re immersed in a sea of data.

It is a pretty exciting time in the field of milk fever prevention. New products, new strategies and new research are here – giving dairy producers more options to prevent milk fever and subclinical hypocalcemia. 

During the transition period, cows experience three main physiological challenges: (1) a drop in dry matter intake (DMI) and an increase in nutrient demands, predisposing cows to mobilize fat tissue and enter a negative energy balance, (2) immunosuppression and (3) systemic inflammation.

It would be handy to have a crystal ball at dry-off time. After freshening, will the cow produce high-quality colostrum that transfers needed antibodies to her calf? Will she freshen without mastitis?